Wonderful birthday cruise!: Norwegian Sky Cruise Review by lspitz

Norwegian Sky

Overall Member Rating

Wonderful birthday cruise!

Sail Date:
April 2014 Destination:
BahamasEmbarkation:
Miami

I took my boyfriend on a weekend cruise aboard the Norwegian Sky for his 35th birthday. My boyfriend and I had both cruised on Carnival before as 20-somethings, and Norwegian was much better suited for our age group now. The other passengers were mostly 30-45 years old traveling as couples or with children. There were NO college students or spring breakers aboard in late April. We took a car service from the Fort Lauderdale airport to the port in Miami at a cost of $25 per person. We arrived at the port in Miami at 1:00 pm, and embarkation was a breeze. It took less than 10 minutes to get onboard. Others have complained about the baggage handlers at the port, but we found that the baggage handlers for Norwegian were clearly marked, and they were not aggressive about asking for tips. My boyfriend tipped the baggage handler $2 per bag, but the baggage handler had not asked for a tip.

Our stateroom was ready as soon as we got onboard, so we went to locate our stateroom. Then we More
ate lunch in the buffet, which was the only real weakness of the cruise. The food at the buffet had no flavor, and the selection was virtually the same day after day. My boyfriend got a hamburger and prime rib that were both cold and tough. The fruit on the buffet, however, was excellent. After the first lunch at the buffet, we ate elsewhere on the ship but would take a plate of fruit - pineapple, oranges, watermelon - at each meal from the buffet. We ate dinner twice at the Crossings dining room, and the service was excellent. We never had to wait for a table for 2, and we were seated with an ocean view both nights. We also ate at Cagney's to celebrate my boyfriend's birthday, and the server brought him extra shrimp cocktail and dessert. The servers also sang "Happy Birthday" to him. Although Cagney's was great, I do not believe it was necessary to pay extra for the specialty restaurants. The food in the main dining rooms was pretty comparable to the food at Cagney's at no extra charge. For breakfast, my boyfriend and I really enjoyed the waffle and omelet stations in Il Adagio. It seemed that few other passengers were aware of breakfast service at Il Adagio, so we almost had the restaurant to ourselves each morning. Besides the waffles, the other highlight of our trip was the entertainment.

The cruise director, Joel, was really funny and always present to create a party atmosphere. We particularly enjoyed the VEGAS show and the comedian, Russ Rivas. I actually got my boyfriend to dance at the White Hot Party and when the band V.I.P. played in the Dazzles lounge. We did not feel it was necessary to buy the Ultimate Beverage Package, and we came out WAY ahead. We spent only $100 total on alcohol, and we each had 3-4 drinks each day of the cruise. We found that the best value was to buy a bucket of beer to share each evening. With the included gratuity, the bucket of beer was $31. Others had complained that they felt pressured to buy the Ultimate Beverage Package or the Ultimate Dining Package, but I did not have that experience at all. Although they were available to purchase, I did not have anyone ask or suggest that I purchase either the Ultimate Beverage Package or the Ultimate Dining Package. In fact, I did not feel pressured or nickle and dimed by any of the staff on the Norwegian Sky. All of the staff was friendly and courteous. The lines at the bars on the pool deck could be quite long, especially during the sail away party, so I would like there to have been more bartenders. Otherwise, the staff was very attentive and very accessible all over the ship.

The casino on the ship was small, but I like that the slot machines were open all night long - I played for over an hour when I couldn't sleep and won $50. I learned that the slots were open all night from the Freestyle Daily, which is the newsletter outlining all of the dining, entertainment, and beverage options each day of the cruise.

The Freestyle Daily was so helpful for planning our activities and for outlining the disembarkation procedures. Again, disembarkation was a breeze. My boyfriend and I decided to walk off with our luggage. On the morning of disembarkation, we slept until 8:00 am, ate breakfast, and walked off the boat with our luggage around 9:00 am. It took less than 10 minutes to go through customs. Overall, we had a wonderful time on the Norwegian Sky, and we would both cruise with Norwegian again. Next time we would like to go longer! Less

Cabin review: 0027

We had a balcony stateroom on the 10th deck. The stateroom was very clean, but it did show minor signs of wear. There was plenty of storage space for 2 people. The size of the stateroom and the bathroom was adequate for 2 people for 3 nights. The bed and the pillows in the stateroom were very comfortable. Our only complaint was that the stateroom was directly below the pool deck, and the music on the pool deck was very loud at night. We could hear the bass thumbing every night until 1:30 am. There was no noise in the hallway day or night.

Please respect that this is a MODERATED community for people who absolutely LOVE cruise travel or want to learn about cruise travel.

Registration to Cruise Critic's Cruise Community is free! We require that you use a valid e-mail address. You will receive an e-mail asking you to verify your e-mail address before you are allowed to login and post on the boards. Again, please disable your spamblocking or verification software so that you receive our activation e-mail. Also, as a member of Cruise Critic you will receive copies of our weekly newsletter plus our "Cruise Sails" and one "Member Offer" mailing. Should you not want to continue to receive these e-mailings, simply unsubscribe by following the directions in the newsletter. By agreeing to become a member, you are agreeing to receipt of our newsletters.

Additionally, we do insist that you abide by the rules and policies detailed at this link: Community Guidelines.

This is a moderated Community. If you do not agree with the terms and conditions of this Web site and do not wish to be bound by them, please do not use this Web site or continue the registration process. Cruise Critic reserves the right to remove any content in its sole discretion. Additionally, if you violate our Community Guidelines you may lose your posting privileges -- permanently -- without warning. By continuing the registration you are agreeing to the terms

These are moderated message boards. What this means is that we do our best to remove all objectionable messages from the boards. It also means that you cannot say whatever you'd like on the forums. If you are looking for an "anything goes" setting, Cruise Critic might not be the place for you. Understand, too, that our community is comprised of folks who LOVE to cruise. It therefore stands to reason that they will have a favorite cruise line or port of call -- in other words, they are "fans" and will sometimes take offense when a brand new member has arrived on the scene to bash a cruise line.

Keep in mind that we do not prescreen posts so there may be a period of time when an inappropriate post is visible. Please use the Report A Post icon located in the UPPER right hand corner of each posting if you wish to report a violation of our Community Guidelines. All messages express the views of the author, and neither the owners of Cruise Critic Message Board Forums, nor Jelsoft Enterprises Ltd. (developers of vBulletin) will be held responsible for the content of any message.

By agreeing to these rules, you warrant that you will not post any messages that are obscene, vulgar, sexually-orientated, hateful, threatening, are in violation of our Community Guidelines or otherwise violative of any laws.

Cruise Critic reserves to right to remove, edit, move or close any thread (discussion) for any reason from the forums without warning. or notification to the Community. Additionally, we also reserve the right to deny posting privileges to any member at our sole discretion.

You hereby grant Cruise Critic the royalty-free, perpetual, irrevocable, non-exclusive right and license to use, reproduce, modify, adapt, publish, translate, create derivative works from, distribute, perform and display any message posted in our message board community (in whole or in part) worldwide and/or to incorporate it in other works in any form, media or technology now known or later developed.

Our mission is to provide a haven on the Internet free of harassment and advertising for our community members' enjoyment. Any company or person(s) that interfere with that mission risk losing their posting privileges.

If you have any questions about how our community is moderated, please address them to our Community Manager via e-mail at community@cruisecritic.com. Please do not post on the boards.